Compiler

Johnnie Dady, Piano, 2008, mixed media. Dady’s solo exhibition at Greenaway Gallery, Adelaide, continues until 20 April. Image courtesy the artist and Greenaway Art Gallery. www.greenaway.com.au

SA

Life after the Festival

With so much happening around Festival time, it’s tough to find anyone in Adelaide thinking ahead for April: festival madness seems to touch everyone. It is great to see so many participating artists in town, bringing the place alive. A lively and sophisticated visual arts program is emerging as a truly great festival asset and of high community interest, in what was once principally a performing arts festival. To have such a rich layering across all art forms, as well as stellar programs in Writers’ Week and Artists’ Week, and a highly successful Adelaide Biennale that compares favourably with international destination exhibitions, is what makes the Adelaide Festival unique amongst the growing number of festivals nationwide.

A Biennial reception

James Darling and Lesley Forwood created a challenging reception for Adelaide Biennial opening guests, by staging a protest against the Didicoolum Drain Extension (DDE) and current SA Government environmental legislation, to accompany their impressive 12.5 tonne mallee root installation, Troubled Water. The work is a site-specific sculpture, created for the Biennial, of a life-sized cross-section of the DDE at its smallest diameter. Its scale is astounding, particularly when you learn the DDE is a planned 4.8km incision through rural SA that is already under construction. The activist artists, who are also USE farmers, conservationists and members of the Stop the Drains Coalition, are driven by their commitment to the long-term environmental health of the region.

New Appoinments

Nici Cumpston has been appointed to the newly-created position of Assistant Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA). A three-year traineeship funded by the State Government, the position is the gallery’s first to focus primarily on Indigenous Australian art. A respected artist, academic and Indigenous woman, Nici will be a tremendous asset to AGSA, but leaves a large void at the South Australian School of Art, where she was the inaugural Coordinator of Indigenous Arts, Cultures and Design, and a Photography lecturer.

Art in the Biotech Era

The Experimental Art Foundation (EAF) is gearing up for the launch (date tbc) of its latest publication, Art in the Biotech Era. Edited by Melentie Pandilovski, it’s a comprehensive compilation of theories and practices surrounding issues and aesthetics of art and biotechnology, including the influence of techno-scientific change on society and the ethical implications of genetic engineering. This engaging anthology representing Australian and international artists, theorists and writers is drawn from an exhibition, symposium and workshops hosted by the EAF in 2004-2005.

Amazing Aerfeldt

Christine Aerfeldt, 2006 Samstag Scholarship recipient and Adelaide Central School of Art graduate, has continued to build on the success of her Masters graduate exhibition from Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, where two works were purchased by Charles Saatchi. One of her latest works, Her Lady-ness, was purchased by collector David Roberts who has recently opened Gallery OneOneOne in central London. The Wyer Gallery, also in London, has earmarked Aerfeldt’s work for a 2-person show in September/October 2008, to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair.

Down Under Dane

Danish ceramicist Ann Linnemann is visiting artist at the Jam Factory until 21 April 2008. A graduate of the Denmark Design School in Copenhagen and former Director of Denmark’s International Ceramic Research Center, Linemann will create a series of new works to be included in an exhibition alongside new ceramics by Robin Best, Kirsten Coelho, Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Bruce Nuske, Prue Venables and Gerry Wedd. The exhibition, titled Porcelain, opens 5 April – 25 May, Jam Factory, Gallery 1.

Getting about country SA

Country Art SA have a range of touring exhibitions on offer in April across regional SA including: Burning Issues, an exhibition of artwork, artefacts and photographs commemorating the 2005 lower Eyre Peninsula bushfires curated by Jo McLeay at the Millicent Art Gallery, 7 – 27 April; Perceptions of Distance, South Australian regional artists exploring ideas of peripheries and place, Berri, River Lands Gallery,10 March – 18 April; Portable Worlds 2nd Edition – an ANAT touring exhibition, Streaky Bay, Supper Room Studio/IC & RTC, 23 March – 11 May; Bunyips, a National Library of Australia touring exhibition, Port Augusta, Fountain Gallery, 3 – 29 April; Our Mob on Tour, a state-wide celebration of regional and remote South Australian Aboriginal artists; Port Lincoln Civic Hall Galleries, 4 – 30 April; and Collectanea, a ceramics exhibition at South Coast Regional Art Centre, Goolwa, 4 – 27 April.

What’s On

Mark Amerika, Mobile Phone video Art Classics, Experimental Art Foundation, 18 April – 17 May; Annabelle Collett, Disruptive Pattern Syndrome, Adelaide Central Gallery, 28 March - 19 April; Bert Flugelman – sculpture, and Guy Warren, Still Flowing ...’, BMG, 18 April - 10 May 2008; Shaun Gladwell, In a Station of the Metro, Contemporary Art Centre of SA, 18 April – 25 May; Primavera 2007 touring from the MCA, Samstag Museum of Art, 18 April – 6 June; Straight Outta Compton, Felt Space, 2 -19 April; Gathering Loss, Irmina Van Niele, South Australian School of Art, 8 April – 9 May.
Emma Epstein is Coordinator, Exhibitions and Public Programs at the new Samstag Museum of Art: emma.epstein@unisa.edu.au.